Closing ranks behind Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, the Vatican fought back against the widespread international condemnation of the pontiff’s claim – made on his first visit to Africa – that use of condoms was not only ethically wrong but actually exacerbated the Aids crisis.

L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, aimed its first shot at the messenger, accusing the media of reducing the importance of the Pope’s visit to Cameroon and Angola to the sole polemical aspect of how to stop the spread of Aids.